Major Well Andyou
"Major Well Andyou" (Майор Велл Эндъю) is a 1962 story by the Soviet writer Lazar Lagin, describing the events of the Martian invasion through the eyes of the titular character, a British officer collaborator. The story has a considerable amount of pro-Socialist propaganda, as befits a Soviet work. As of 2018, no translation to English appears to exist. Summary Preface In autumn 1940, the remnants of a strange machine are wrenched out of Thames' bottom by a stray German bomb. Soon after they land on the riverside, another nearby explosion causes them to fall into dust, revealing a sealed cookie tin. In 1945, a war veteran, young lieutenant Patterson, in order to show his fiancee he is quite nimble despite needing a prosthetic leg, kicks the tin. It opens, revealing four wrapped notepads. Upon bringing them home, Patterson realizes they contain the diary of one Major Well Andyou, describing the Martian invasion of The War of the Worlds from a different point of view. He desires to publish the notes. The publisher pays him handsomely, but as time passes, does not publish the text. Ultimately, realizing that it will never be published for political reasons, the now middle-aged Patterson approaches Lagin, and gives him a copy of the notes. The Diaries The story starts on June the 18th. The first three days, the notes mainly concern Andyou's daily life, including ranting against people discussing Socialist ideas. Andyou is revealed to be a person who served for twenty years in the colonial forces. Later, it is revealed he has a wife named Jenny. The two have kids. On the 20th, Colonel Cox, the commander of the regiment which is supposed to handle the situation with the Martians, requests his presence. On the 22nd, Andyou is sent to recon the area along with four other men. The tripods capture him and three of the soldiers, placing them in a tripod's back basket. A lieutenant manages to run away. By 24th, Andyou had already witnessed the Martian meals (in a minor departure from the novel, what was called there "a little pipette", Andyou describes as a vessel the size of a tea glass). The Martians let him and his one surviving soldier into a ruined store, so that they may get food to sustain them until their blood is needed. The soldier attempts to attack the Martian machine with a gun, but Andyou, fearing for his own life, knocks him out. The soldier is promptly fed upon by the Martians, and Andyou is brought back to the tripod's basket along with the supplies the two have managed to gather in the store. Andyou attempts, somewhat successfully, to establish contact with the Martians. On the 25th, the tripods arrive at the position of Colonel Cox' regiment. Andyou realizes that the artillery cannot destroy the Martian force, but it is possible they will damage one of the machines, thus enraging the aliens. Moreover, Andyou himself is likely to be killed, since he, in his basket, isn't protected as well as the Martians. Quickly, he draws a sketch of the artillery positions and shows it to the aliens. They understand the message. The regiment is flanked and annihilated without a shot fired back. The Martians, as a sign of trust on their side, show him a sketch with their own symbol; a swastika. The Major starts reflecting on his position. He attempts to justify his choices both through logic and looking in the Bible. As far as he sees, the British can benefit greatly from allying with the Martians. They can become partners in ruling the world. After all, the Martians can use an ally familiar with Earth's geography and possessing a fleet (the Martians having little experience with water). And as for the Martians' dietary preferences, the undesirable and expendable elements of the society should be more than sufficient to provide for their needs. Andyou is entrusted to "shepherd" the captives, convincing them the Martians mean them no harm until their time to die comes. Once he does that, the Martians offer him to drink from one of their pipettes. Andyou obliges. On the 27th, one of the tripods is taken out by an IED. The Martians manage to catch the people responsible, and put them in the same basket as Andyou. The Major manages to make the guerilla fighters trust him, and gets the location of their headquarters out of them. Later, he attempts to warn the Martians about the threat of warships, but they fail to understand him. They end up losing a tripod to HMS Thunder Child, commanded by Andyou's own cousin, Francis. Andyou gets a cold. The Martians realize he is uncomfortable in the basket, and take him inside their cabin. The basket is filled with five people, who first eat from the supplies left there, and then manage to make an improvised rope. Four of them manage to get out. The rope breaks before the fifth can escape. The Martians are already starting to succumb to disease, and are thus unable to prevent the escape. It isn't until July the 2nd that Andyou realizes what happened to his masters. By then, nothing can be done. He tries to make the tripod open by randomly pressing some switches, but all he manages to do is set it crawling toward Thames. The last thing he sees before the machine is submerged, is the last captive swimming for the shore. Category:The War of the Worlds adaptations Category:Novels and Novellas